Chapter 11: Tuesday 02 October 2007

Leadville Colorado — Tuesday Day Thirty-two

I slept the sleep of the dead last night. It always seemed like I slept the best at my-uh-our cabin. I used to think it was the bed, but this was a new bed. Jens's snoring didn't even bother me. It must just be ... being home in the comfort and perceived safety of home.

I was wide-awake and I wanted to run! I wanted to run the trails of my youth and relive the memories of both happier and less happy times. And I wanted to see if my friend was still here and would run with me. I reached over and started stroking Jens on the back, her little snores turned into sighs. I pushed a little harder and she started waking up, "Mmmm, this is a nice way to wake up." She rolled over and her smile lit up the whole room. "This is our house, my dearest. Our house! I can't wait until we have children and this house echoes with the pitter-patter of their little feet." She leaned over and hugged me tight and kissed me lightly on my lips, I pulled her tighter and kissed harder. She pulled away, "Now don't hurt your lips."

"Come on Jens, let's go for a run. There's someone I want you to meet." She gave me a funny look but shrugged her shoulders and jumped out of bed. Watching her move always mesmerized me. When she wasn't doing her sexy strut she had graceful moves that reminded me of watching a puma stalking a deer. She looked over her shoulder at me and said, "Thanks, that's the nicest thing you've thought about me all day. Now are you going to lie in bed all day and watch me or are we going for a run?"

I smiled as much as my lips would allow, "I don't know. Since you're my blonde trophy babe I thought I might have you strut around the room awhile. Perhaps I might even order you to give me a fashion show!"

"Pul-eze! If I did that you'd get so excited you'd die from a heart attack - and I don't want you dying for a long time. Get your ass moving Marine or I might have to kick it. Besides, you tweaked my curiosity about this friend of yours." She giggled.

I jumped out of bed, "Oh you'll like her. She's a real vixen."

I saw a bit of jealously cross Jens face, "So you've been holding out on me and there's another woman!" She defiantly stated with her hands on her hips.

I walked over and hugged her, "I'm a Marine not a sailor so I don't have a girl in every port. You're all the woman and the only woman that I need. I'll bet you a kiss and a massage that you'll approve of this girl."

"You're on Marine. Now get dressed so we can meet her and I can win this bet."

I checked the temperature; it was a balmy 25 degrees. I opened the drawers and all my clothes were there, "My love! Thank you so much for setting up all my drawers just the way they used to be."

"See! There are advantages to being stalked by me!" She teased back.

I acted worried, "Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that."

"You little shit! Don't think that I can't sense when you're teasing me. Stop stalling I want to meet your mystery woman." She ordered.

I threw on my clothes, making sure to layer well and headed towards the kitchen. I walked in the kitchen and my mouth fell open, this was not my mama's kitchen. There was a large walk-in freezer and all the appliances were professional, from the gas stove and double ovens to the sinks and counter tops. Jens walked in, "I made a few changes, I hope you don't mind."

I grabbed her and kissed her, "Whoa Marine, save that for later. You've only seen a few of the changes."

"I don't know where anything is! Where are the hydration packs?" I questioned.

"Don't worry, this is MY kitchen now and I MIGHT let you in occasionally." She walked over to a large pantry that was also new, opened it and handed me a pack. "You're cleaning the bladders, so if you want to share it'd be great. Besides it's more fun that way." Then she winked at me.

I swatted her butt, "If this gets to be any more fun I don't' know if I'll be able to stand it. I feel like a kid with a never-ending Christmas. I thought I knew this house but every room I go in has a new surprise." I grabbed her again and kissed her as best I could, "Thank you so much my love. I never dreamed that my - I mean our house would be like this. It's like a wonderful combination of the old house and the new house. I have all the good memories of my childhood and the excitement of our new life together."

She gave me a big smile, "Good, then my job is done. This was what I planned and hoped would happen; -it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Moreover, you haven't seen the whole house yet. Let's go for the run, I can't wait to finally run with you at our house! And I want to see this bitch you've been talking about."

I laughed, "No, she's not a bitch. She's a vixen."

Jens shot daggers with her eyes and I decided that now would be a good time to drop the issue. I filled up the hydration pack and asked, "Is there any Hudson Bay Bread?"

She looked at me, "Natch! She walked back to the pantry and gave me four squares, "One of those is mine, so don't get greedy."

I looked at her, "I have one more favor to ask. Do you have a piece of meat for Anastasia?"

"Ah, the bitch has a name! I'm not going to cook any damn meat for her."

I grinned, "It doesn't really need to be cooked, she'll eat it raw."

She gave me a very quizzical look, "What sort of wacko bitch is this? I won't even eat raw meat."

"I keep telling you, she's not a bitch she's a vixen; so how about a little meat for her?"

"I've got a five finger sandwich she can munch on." Jens grumped.

I walked over to the refrigerator and found a nice piece of beef, "This will do." Jens gave me the evil eye. "Let's go. When you meet her, you'll love her."

"Like hell I will!" Jens almost shouted.

"Want to bet another kiss?" I tease.

"You're on. I'm s-o-o-o-o-o going to win this bet." Jens quipped.

I thought, you're s-o-o-o-o wrong on this. You're going to owe me big time. If we were married ... you'd really owe me big time!

We walked to the front door; Jens disabled the security system, we went outside and I started looking around.

"Well, where is she? Do we meet her on the run?" Jens asked.

I whistled and then I saw a movement over in the scrub oak, there she was. I walked out in the yard, sat the piece of beef down, and moved back on the porch.

Nastya the fox came out of the scrub oak, walked in the yard, sat down and looked at us. I turned to Jens, "Jens, I'd like to meet Anastasia - Nastya the fox." It almost seemed like Nastya was smiling at us, she walked over and ate the beef.

"O-h-h-h Ben, she's s-o-o-o cute. I was so upset at you I thought she was a woman."

I held her hand, "You're the only woman for me. Nastya has been my running partner for years whenever I've been home. She stopped running with me when I was training for the Leadville one-hundred, I never knew why until you told me that you were watching me. I think you scared her away."

Jens squeezed my hand, "I'm sorry I was so jealous. I should have known better. You think that she will run with us today?"

"We can only try and see what she does. I do know that she's a very forgiving vixen." I answered.

"A-h-h-h, a vixen is a female fox. Now I understand." She laughed and Nastya jumped but didn't run away.

I walked off the porch and looked back at Jens, "You now owe me, what was it, two kisses and a massage. Come on Arm Candy, move your ass." We started off down one of my favorite trails and Nastya fell in beside us. When the trail got wider Nastya moved up to one side of me and Jens the other, "I think that Nastya likes me. She's a real fox." I started laughing, "Yes she is, but not as f-o-x-y as my Arm Candy!"

I do think that Nastya approved of Jens since she stayed with me longer than usual. "Ben, have you ever touched her?" Jens questioned. "I've never tried; I didn't want to scare her away. Besides if she bit me I might have to get rabies shots."

"And what do you need if I bite you?" Jens sexily suggested. "I think I'd need full spectrum IV antibiotics." I teased and then took off running hard. "I'm gonna get you for that." Jens yelled.

She didn't have to as Nastya slipped up and nipped me on the butt. "Ouch, that's the first time she ever did that." I yelled. Jens stopped and laughed, "You see, we girls stick together. You'd better not tease me or Nastya will get you."

Jens and Nastya were standing beside each other, I swear that it looked like Nastya was smiling. I thought, damn my women are ganging up on me again. "That's right Honey. You just remember that we girls stick together." Jens replied sensing my feelings. I knew better than to start anything so I said, "Last one home is a rotten egg," and took off for the house. They weren't expecting that and I had a big lead on Jens, but Nastya caught up to me and started running circles around me and slowed me down a lot. I heard Jens laughing, "Way to go girl - you show him how I feel." I slowed up some more and let Jens catch me.

We met Liz on the way back to the house. She'd also been out running. "You guys didn't wait for me," then she looked over and saw the fox, "What the hell is this animal doing with us." Nastya looked at Liz and growled.

I almost fell over laughing. "At least I won't have to do battle with all three of you. I don't know if I'd survive."

"L-i-z! That's Nastya, she's a real fox and my new friend." Jens piped up. Liz eyed her again, "I thought the only thing foxes were good for is turning into fur coats." Nastya growled even louder this time, started running circles around Liz and snapping at her. "Hey! Get this vicious animal away from me. Ben quick - shoot it."

I started laughing so hard that I couldn't run any more. Everyone else stopped and Nastya came over, stood by me and growled at Liz. The hair was even standing up on the back of Nastya's neck.

"L-i-z! You'd better apologize to Nastya. You have her all upset." Jens stamped her foot and ordered.

"Ben, save me from these two." Liz begged.

"No way, you three can figure this out between each other. I'm headed home." I took off running.

I guess they figured things out because the three of them showed up about 10 minutes later. I had another piece of beef for Nastya. Jens ran up to me, "Thanks dear, I wanted to give Nastya another piece of beef for being such a good girl and forgiving Liz." She took the beef, Nastya walked right up to Jens and took the beef out of her hand. Jens reached down and petted Nastya a couple times and Nastya took off for the woods. I was shocked, I had tried for years to pet Nastya and she'd never even let me get close. Jens walked back, "Close your mouth you'll let flies get in."

"You're amazing. I've been trying to do that for years and never could. You're here a day and you have her eating out of your hand." I sulked.

She smiled at me, "Poor Ben! You of all people should know I have a way with animals. After all, it only took me three days to catch you and for two of those days, I was just playing with you! By the way, close your mouth again." She walked past me into the house and I heard Liz laughing, "I don't know if that was a compliment or a putdown, but the look on your face was funny as hell."

I was dazed and didn't know what the hell to do. So I decided to head to the barn and check things out. I walked up to the door and noticed a keypad, I tried the code for the house and it didn't work. Jens's voice came over the intercom, "Wrong code Jarhead, reverse the one at the house." I tried it in reverse and heard a bunch of noise and the door went click, I turned the knob walked in and turned on the light ... Jens's voice again, "Close your mouth or your tongue will dry out."

I couldn't believe my eyes! The barn was better than ever. My old Dodge 2500 truck was gone, destroyed in the attack on my cabin. In its place was a brand new 3500 with the Cummins turbo diesel. As I walked around behind it I noticed that the tailpipe was huge and got to thinking - they couldn't have. I opened the door and popped the hood and sure enough someone had done a bunch of work on it. I think it even had a twin turbo. It looked like the truck of my dreams.

Jens came strolling in the barn with a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal. She looked amazing, her face was all fixed up again and she had on skintight Levis and a tight (really tight) t-shirt. She swayed with the provocative walk that someone had taught her. I think it was Liz and I really needed to thank her. "Breakfast is served my love!" She announced.

I jumped out of the cab, went over, hugged her tight, and gave her a hell-of-a kiss, not even caring about my lips or the hot coffee spilling down my back. I pulled away and looked at her, "So, you decided to start with dessert first? It's good to see that you paid more attention to me than your shiny new toy." She teased.

"You are the shiniest toy I've ever seen? I'd much rather play with you." I let my hands start creeping towards her butt. "Honey, not now. We're on TV." She said and grinned. I looked past her, saw Liz and the crew, and blushed. Jens kissed my cheek, "I do love you so much when you blush. It tells me that you're still my little boy. Eat breakfast and then I'll show you all the shiny, shiny toys!"

She fed me the oatmeal one sexy spoonful at a time, making sure to blow on and taste each bite, teasing the hell out of me with her tongue and lips. I was glad that I wore some loose sweatpants because things were starting to get uncomfortable. She finished the oatmeal before things got so bad I couldn't walk and then made a big production out of the coffee. She stuck her finger in it, swirled it around, and very sexily sucked the coffee off her finger, "There, now you have some sugar for your coffee." She was lucky the news crew was here, otherwise, I would have gotten real frisky. I slammed down the coffee and reached for her, "Not now my love, let me show you the shiny, shiny toys first."

She walked in front of me with that sexy strut and I was lost! I heard her saying something but what she said didn't register - my mind was on her toys. "And that's the truck, what do you think?" I heard her say. I opened my mouth and mumbled, "Truck good." Laughter filled the barn, "You didn't hear a word I said. Did you?" "Uh, not really. I was distracted." I mumbled and blushed.

She came over and took my arm, pressing it tightly against her chest, "I think that I need to walk beside you for awhile. Otherwise you won't hear a word I say." I slipped my arm out of her grasp, slid it around behind her, and let it creep into the back pocket on her jeans, damn they were tight and I could barely get my hand in. She looked at me, "Behave yourself or I might have to handcuff you!" But she didn't remove my hand.

We walked over in front of a red Jeep Grand Cherokee, I was still in a daze. "This is my new car and it's diesel too. We didn't do anything to the engine, but we did have the differentials and the transfer case replaced. Do you like it?"

I pulled her close and kissed her, "Yes I love you." She pulled back and grinned, "The Jeep, do you like the Jeep?" "Oh yeah, it should be great for you to drive." I answered. She giggled and I felt butterflies in my heart.

Her cobra was in the next part of the barn, it was covered with the car cover. Finally there was an old John Deere tractor that looked like Dad's but in much better shape. It had the front scoop on it for plowing the road in winter. "This was the easiest thing to find and it wasn't expensive at all. We did get a gas tractor because we didn't want to bother with diesel in the winter." Jens recited to me.

She showed me the workbenches and all the tools. Shit! We even had a pit so we could get under the vehicles and work on them. It was the perfect barn, I couldn't have asked for anything more. I had mostly come out of my Jens induced daze and really started looking around. The concrete floor was all covered with epoxy. Where the workbenches were located there was rubber to stand on, and I looked at the walls and noticed they weren't the normal insulated steel building walls and the doors. They even looked different. "What's going on with the walls and the doors?" I asked.

She beamed, "So you're finally noticing the shiny, shiny toys. It's about time."

Jens looked at Liz, "Why don't you send the crew over to get some video of Mom and Dad." Liz talked to the team and they left. Jens pulled a PDA out her shirt pocket and hit some buttons. The shutters closed over the windows and there was a bunch of noise at the doors.

"Listen Ben and tell me what you hear." I strained my ears and I couldn't hear anything but us breathing. "I don't hear anything, not a bird not anything."

"That's right, this isn't your Papa's steel building. It's a bunker made out of steel reinforced concrete. And the doors are steel blast doors. The house is built the same way. I'm not going to have some fucking terrorist blow the hell out of my family." Jens had switched from beauty queen mode to Marine.

I stared at her as she repeated, "Close your mouth jarhead."

Liz walked over and said to me, "So Alice are you ready to go down the rabbit hole?" I was in a daze again, not because of Jens's beauty but because my mind simply couldn't get around all the changes.

They lead me into the pit and I noticed a door with no doorknobs at the back. "Open the door Marine." Jens ordered. I put my hand against the door and it opened right up, lights started and I could see a tunnel. I looked quizzically at Jens.

"The door is keyed to automatically open when one of the family touches it, but it's also designed to analyze and verify your body, just in case someone decides to cut off your hand or use fake fingerprints. Go on into the tunnel, nothing's going to bite you." Jens lectured.

I started down the tunnel as the door closed silently behind us. The tunnel made a turn and I knew we were headed towards the house. As I walked the lights came on ahead of me and went off behind me. I noticed several panels in the wall but didn't ask Jens what they were. We reached a ladder and I climbed to the top and touched the door, it opened and I walked into a damn cold room. Jens and Liz scurried up the ladder after me and the trapdoor closed. I looked around and realized that we were in the walk in freezer, I went to open the door and Jens said, "Wait. Let's see who's in the kitchen." She touched a display, it showed the inside of the kitchen where Mom was making some coffee. "Oh Goodie! Let's scare the crap out of Mom." Jens said all excited.

She went to the door, swung it quickly open and shouted, "BOOO!" Mom jumped and spilled the coffee, "Young lady, I'm tired of you using that to sneak up on me. If you do that again I'm going to spank your butt."

"I'd be glad to help," I offered. "So would I," Liz chimed in.

Jens faked a pout, "You three are no fun. What's the joy of having a secret passage if you can't use it to sneak up on each other?"

Mom ignored her and looked at me, "You looked dazed and must need a cup of coffee. I know how I felt the first time she showed me the rabbit hole." Mom poured me a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, I do need this. That was amazing and I couldn't tell it was there. What were all the panels along the wall?" I asked.

"Those are storage for food, water and weapons." Jens smiled, "They open just like everything else."

Liz added, "You forgot to mention the crypt."

Jens stomped her foot and pouted, "I wanted to surprise him with that later. I thought we might make a midnight trip to the crypt. I remember how much Ben liked the coffin," then she laughed.

I shuddered remembering my escape from the hospital, "The crypt?"

"Yes my love. The rabbit hole is the code word for the tunnel; the crypt is the codeword for the underground bunker." Jens smiled.

I sat down heavily at the table. The morning had brought so many surprises that I could barely cope with all of them. The women joined me at the table and started talking to each other about girl things while I drank my coffee and tried to get my head around all the changes. I stood up, went to the window and looked out towards the barn. The landscape looked just the same as it always did. However, right under the surface there was a tunnel and an underground bunker. I set the coffee cup in the sink and walked outside trying to trace the path of the tunnel from the barn to the house. I squatted, looked closely at the ground and didn't discover a single thing.

Dad walked up and said, "You're not going to see it or even find it. I don't think you realized it, but everything is over fifty feet below ground. All the work was done with subterranean tunneling machines."

"You guys paid for all this?" I asked.

He laughed, "We started out paying for it, and paid for most of the cabin. But when Jens showed us what she wanted we had to switch over and let your company pay for it."

"My company? I don't own a company." I responded with confusion.

He laughed again, "No, you own several companies." And he started naming them off to me.

"When did all this happen?" I asked still feeling like I was lost.

Jens walked up, "When we were busy becoming America's Sweethearts Daddy was busy investing all the money we were making. He made some very wise business decisions for us."

Liz walked up, "You may not know it hero, but when you started the Truth Network it was one of the wisest things you have ever done. We've made more money in the short time we've been in business than most networks do in years. America is not only hungry for the truth, they're starving for information about you two. Do you remember the movie The Truman Show?"

"Isn't that the movie where Jim Carey's whole life is a TV show?" I answered.

"Close hero, but you left off the important part, it was the top rated TV show in the nation. America is so hungry to see you two that I could do a Truman Show on both of you."

Jens interrupted, "That is if I would let them. We do need some privacy."

Liz continued, "Yes that's right. If I had my way, we'd video everything about you two from the moment you woke up in the morning till your last kiss goodnight. If I did that you'd be even richer than you are already."

"We're rich?" I questioned.

"No, we're really rich." Liz said.

"H-h-how, much?" I stuttered.

Dad told me and my mind simply couldn't take anymore. I needed to do something to give my mind time to work on this ... I needed to go for another run.

I looked at the three of them, they all had silly grins on their faces. "You know, I'm not sure what to think about any of this or whether I like it or not. I never wanted to be rich, and I sure as hell never wanted to own any companies. I'm going for a run to figure this out."

"We're coming with you." Jens and Liz piped up.

"I don't think you two can keep up with me."

"Are you forgetting hero? I already caught you once." Liz added.

"That was at sea-level. This is at ten-thousand feet and you're on my turf. There's no way in hell you're keeping up with me." I challenged.

"You wouldn't want to make a bet on it would you?" She teased.

"Ben, you'd better not bet her a massage. Those magic hands of yours are reserved for me and me alone." Jens stated.

I looked her in the eyes, "I'm your huckleberry."

Jens sucked in her breath, "Liz, I only heard him say that phrase once. I think you'd better back down."

"No way in hell, how about a thousand dollars." Liz taunted.

I laughed, "If I'm so fucking rich, why don't we make it ten or fifteen or twenty-thousand. Shit! I don't care. It's whatever you want to lose."

"I'll tell you what! I'll kiss your ass if you can beat me." Liz taunted.

"I'm tired of flapping my lips; try to keep up with me." I took off for the hills.

I started off easy and they fell in behind me, Nastya even came out of the woods and ran beside me. Liz and Jens were jabbering to each other and it was irritating me beyond belief. I wanted peace and quiet to think. I picked up the pace and they did too.

Finally we hit the first hill, Nastya stopped at the bottom like she always did. She hated running hills with me. Now I started running for real. I was sucking wind and my legs were starting to burn from the lactic acid buildup. I heard from behind me, "Hey slow up. We can't keep up with you." It just motivated me to run even harder. I was running as hard as I could on this hill and both women were falling far behind. They were yelling at me, but I couldn't hear them anymore. I knew myself and I knew this hill - it was steep and about five miles long. At this pace I would just make the top of the hill and still be able to run.

I looked over my shoulder and couldn't see the women, I was finally free to work on my problems. I dropped my pace to a more comfortable speed and started considering all that I had seen and heard. It was troubling to me because I'd never thought or dreamed of being rich or owning companies. I'm a Marine, I loved being a Marine and I loved all that was associated with being a Marine. Being rich or a businessman didn't fit into those plans and they were serious distractions.

I ran my ass off for two hours before I decided to head back to the cabin. It took me an hour and a half to make it back. Everyone was in the yard as I ran up. Jens was pissed off at me. I smiled, ran up to her, started feeling dizzy and collapsed to the ground.

Mom ran up, "What did you all do to Ben? He looks as sick as a dog! Quick, get him upstairs to his bed right now and don't give me any grief."

Somehow, they helped me up to my bed, I settled in and slipped off to a fitful nap full of terrible dreams where I was an evil businessman oppressing all my workers. I think I slept for an hour, when I woke up, the whole bed was soaked and there was Jens holding me close and smiling at me.

"Wow, those were some nasty dreams you were having. Are you going to be okay?"

"You could sense my dreams? When did that happen?" I asked.

"I've never been able to before. But I tried really hard because you were tossing and turning and moaning in the bed. I'm sorry my love, this is my fault, I should have started telling you sooner and done it more gradually." Jens said and bit her lower lip. "I was just hoping to give you a big surprise."

I blurted out, "I want to give it all away. I don't want any of the money. I won't be a rich fat cat living off other's misery."

Fire rose in Jens eyes and she lightly slapped my face, "If you weren't sick I'd slap you so hard that your teeth would hurt for a week. Listen here Mister! And listen good! If you think that Daddy or I would do anything like that then you don't know us very well. As we've become more prosperous so has everyone around us. There's no oppression of anyone that works with us. You did notice I said works with us and not for us. They are all wealthy enough they could retire but they love what they're doing."

"Wh-wh-what about the businesses that we own?" I stuttered.

"There again, they are small businesses that needed cash infusions and would have closed if we didn't help them. All the employees were given raises and are treated fairly. You're making something out of nothing. Don't you think the news would be ripping us up if we did anything wrong? They're just vultures waiting for us to make a mistake. So get your head out of your ass and just accept that you have the Midas touch, anything you do turns to gold." Jens smiled.

"That's right hero," I turned and Liz was sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed. "I'd be ripping you a new one if you'd done anything wrong. Remember, my network only reports the truth. Right now you could fall in a pile of cow shit and come out smelling like roses. Jens is right - get your head out of your ass."

I remembered the last time I'd heard this many people tell me to get my head out of my ass and figured I'd better listen before Mom, Dad and even Nastya the fox came in to tell me the same thing. I sat up in bed and I really did feel better. In fact, it was the best I'd felt since this whole crazy morning began.

"That's my man! For once you listened and I didn't need to beat it into your head." Jens smiled at me.

"I'm getting out of here," Liz said, "With all the sweating Ben did you guys stink too much. I even feel like I need to take a shower." She walked out of the room.

Jens and I looked at each other. Finally, she said, "We both need to take a shower. Want to do it together; we'd save water that way?" Her violet eyes twinkled.

"Someday we will. But I don't think I could take any more excitement today." I replied.

She sighed, "Someday, I sure am getting tired of hearing that word."

She jumped out of bed and headed towards the bathroom singing:

First thing I remember was askin' papa, why?
For there were many things I didn't know.
And daddy always smiled; took me by the hand,
Sayin', someday you'll understand.